Into The Dalek Novelisation
by Josman
Summary: In a spaceship, surrounded by Daleks, the Doctor finds himself needing to save his oldest foe in order to save the universe.
1. The Blue And The Pink

**Into The Dalek**

 **Disclaimer: I think we all get the idea by now. If anyone's still in doubt, see the previous story for confirmation.**

 **Chapter 1: The Blue And The Pink**

It had all been so well prepared. They'd set out on a quick hit and run attack that would destroy a supply ship heading for the enemy fleet. But the moment they'd opened fire, they'd discovered they'd been led into an ambush. The whole squad had scattered and tried to get away, but they were facing the universe's most insane war machine and no escape route had been left unchecked.

As the ship shook and warning lights lit up across the consoles, Journey Blue tried desperately to steer the ship with one hand and press her hand to her brother's wound with the other. "Stay with me." She pleaded, guiding his hand back up, to keep the blood in.

She flew the ship deeper and deeper into the asteroid field, in the hope of shaking their pursuers. She got on the radio. "Aristotle, this is Wasp Delta, do you hear me? Stay with me, Kai. Stay with me, please. Aristotle! We have been hit. Major damage. Aristotle!"

At this point, the navigational computer finally went out. She flew on blindly, with only the view out the window to go on. But as she rounded one of the larger rocks, she swore loudly. The enemy ship had found a clear route through the field and flew in ahead of her. She promptly swung the stick to the side and shot off in the opposite direction, as plasma bolts slammed into asteroids around her.

From her radio, the voices of her pursuers began to filter through. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

She weaved between asteroids, trying desperately to keep at least one between her and them, but it was to no avail. A shot hit a key thruster, sending the ship into an uncontrollable spin. "I'm sorry." She sobbed, as she watched the nearest asteroid screaming closer. The ship struck and she felt the air being pulled from her lungs as the ship de-pressurised. Within the space of a second, she'd blacked out.

* * *

The room slowly came into focus. The blurred outline of a brass rimmed console appeared above her. She sat up looked around a large circular room, lined with bookshelves and the hum of machinery all around her. In the centre a man in a black suit was adjusting a hexagonal control panel.

"You'll probably feel a bit sick." He said. "Please, don't be."

Journey looked around, but saw no sign of Kai. She grabbed her gun. "Where's my brother?"

"Hello I'm the Doctor." Unconcerned by the gun being pointed at him, he put down the cardboard containers he was holding and offered her a hand.

But she didn't trust the man. He didn't appear armed but she never trusted on appearances. "He was right beside me. What did you do with him?" She shouted, as she swept the room for anyone else.

"I materialised a time capsule exactly round you and saved your life one second before your ship exploded, but do please keep crying." Said the Doctor.

"My brother just died!" She backed down a staircase and scanned the under levels.

"His sister didn't. You're very welcome." He shrugged. "Put the gun down."

"Or what?"

"You might shoot me. Then where would you be."

"In charge of your vessel." She snarled.

"You'd starve to death finding the light switch."

Journey glanced at the console, keeping the man in sight. She recognised none of the controls, and this ship was clearly much more powerful than anything she'd flown before.

"Who are you?" Said the Doctor.

"I'm Lieutenant Journey Blue of the Combined Galactic Resistance. I demand you take me back to my command ship, the Aristotle, which is currently located..."

"No, not like that." The Doctor cut her off.

"You _will_ take me back to my ship, which is located..."

"No. Do it properly now. Come on."

Journey took a deep breath and lowered her gun. "Will you take me back to my ship... please."

The Doctor nodded and had a look at a scanner screen. "The Aristotle's the big one, parked in the asteroids, right?"

Her eyes widened when she saw the exact coordinates on screen. "It's shielded."

"More or less." He hit some controls and the TARDIS made a short hop to the ship. He looked over to see his passenger with tears streaming down her cheeks, despite her hard exterior. "Dry your eyes, Journey Blue. Crying's for civilians. It's how we communicate with you lot." As the TARDIS came to a halt, he pulled the doors open.

The chamber he found himself in gave all the indications of a hidden base. Containers of supplies were stacked here and there. The walkways between them were crowded with soldiers, moving around and sitting practically on top or each other when they needed to take the weight off their feet.

Behind him, Journey was looking at the TARDIS from several different angles. Now that she'd got her bearings, she was being much more civil with him. "It's smaller on the outside."

"It's much more impressive when you go the other way. Trust me." He took a look at a symbol on the wall. "This isn't a battleship. Medical insignia. It's a hospital."

"We don't need hospitals now." Said a new voice. The Doctor looked round to see a grey haired man, flanked by two guards. "The Daleks leave no wounded. And we take no prisoners."

The Doctor took a look at the soldiers and didn't like what he was implying. "I saved your friend here, if that's in any way relevant."

"It's true sir, he did." Said Journey.

"Thank you." The man shrugged.

"You're welcome, I wish I could have done more."

"Than maybe you should." The man frowned, but then shifted back to his neutral expression. "But you did save Journey. For that I'm grateful."

"Good."

"However, the security on this base is absolute. So I'm still going to have to kill you."

The Doctor frowned. "It's a roller coaster with you, isn't it?"

"Shoot him, bag him and throw him outside."

"No, wait!" Journey hurried between him and the guards."

"I'm sorry. He might be a duplicate."

"He's a doctor. And we have a patient."

* * *

Two things had quickly become clear to Journey as they led the Doctor through the base. The first was that he had been a soldier at some point, the way he behaved gave it away. The second was that he outright hated anything military.

"So why does a hospital need a Doctor?" He was saying sarcastically.

"You don't like us. Do you?" She said.

"You don't need to be liked. You have all the guns." As they passed by a huge glass cylinder with rows of benches along each side, he gasped and went for a closer look. "Wow, a moleculon nanoscaler!"

"You know what it does then?"

"It miniaturises living matter. What's the medical application, though? Do you use it to shrink the surgeons so they can climb inside the patients?"

"Exactly." Said the general, who'd identified himself as Morgan."

"Fantastic idea for a film. Terrible idea for a proctologist. Are you going to miniaturise me?"

"You're a doctor, aren't you?" Morgan unlocked a door to his left. "And this is your patient."

The Doctor took a look and paled. "No, you can't put me in there."

Inside, was a Dalek, chained up in several places and with little wires connecting it to various scanners. It was battle scarred and little patches of rust lined its casing.

* * *

Danny Pink called the assembled troops to attention. "Atten-shun. Look at you lot. I've never seen such a miserable bunch! What are you, children?"

"Yes sir." Said a year 8.

Danny leaned down. "Do you think you're funny, Fleming?"

"Yes sir." Said Fleming,

Danny smiled. "Yeah, me too." At this point, the bell signalled the end of lunch. "Alright, dismissed!"

The Coal Hill Cadets jogged away, passing by Miss Oswald as they went, who gave him a smile as a way of saying hello. He smiled back, but then hurriedly looked away so it wouldn't look like he was staring at her. Someone like her probably wouldn't be interested in him anyway.

"Just ask her for a drink" Said a year 11, glancing up from her phone.

"What?" Said Danny.

"I heard she got dumped recently. Ran off with her boyfriend at Christmas, then he abandoned her in Glasgow a week later. Best time to grab her."

"And where have you heard these roumers from?"

"Dunno." She shrugged.

"Then please keep your speculation to yourself."

"Sorry sir."

* * *

A few minutes later, having had a brief shower and pulled his shirt and tie back on, Danny went to the reception to check his timetable for changes.

"Get up to much this weekend?" Said the secretary.

Danny thought. He wasn't sitting idle at home, but routine maintenance and food shopping didn't sound interesting. "Nothing much. Just did some reading."

"I bet you were reading." The secretary grinned at him, as if trying to imply something.

"I was, yeah." Said Danny.

"I bet you were." In a very _nudge nudge, wink wink_ sort of way. Was exactly was she trying to imply?

"Well, yeah. I was. Nothing special."

"Of course. I know your type."

"You wish." Said a year 9, leaning over the counter.

"Be quiet, Courtney." Hissed the secretary.

* * *

He had a year 8 class to teach next. The lesson went fine, until the very end, when he was assigning homework. "So that's all the questions on page 32, except the last one, and then everything on page 33. All that in for Thursday. Any questions?"

Flemming put his hand up. "Have you ever killed anyone sir?"

The rest of the class groaned and looked away, but Danny had a well worn response to that question. "I was a soldier. I've been in firefights with other soldiers. Not all of them were on our side. That's all I'm going to say. And please think of something else to ask."

"OK." Said Flemming. "Have you ever killed someone who wasn't a soldier?"

Danny suddenly became very interested in his notes. "Like I was saying." He said, very steadily. "So that's all the questions on page 32, except the last one, and then everything on page 33. All that in for Thursday. Is everyone clear?"

"Yes sir." Said the class and filed out. Even Flemming realised that he may have gone a bit too far when he saw a lone tear run down Mr Pink's cheek.

* * *

Finally, the end of the day came, and Danny went to retrieve his coat from the staff room. It was there that he found Miss Oswald talking to the head about something. "Fine, I'll take that class and then, they can do some of the test."

"That's fine." He said. "Oh, Clara, you've not met Danny Pink yet? New fella, maths. Danny? Clara Oswald. English."

Danny shook her hand. He'd only started a week ago and had been awkwardly avoiding her. He was thrown a bit of a loop here.

"You watch yourself around him. Bit of a lady killer. But always denies it." The head grinned.

"I'm not a lady killer." He said, not sure where he'd got this reputation.

"See what I mean? Oh, Beth, could I have a word?" The head went to talk to Beth, leaving them there.

"Was it you outside with the soldiery thing?" She said.

"Yeah, the Coal Hill Cadets. Bit of fun."

"What, teaching them to shoot people?"

"There's more to modern soldiery than that."

"What you shoot people and cry about it afterwards?" Clara had intended that as a bit of friendly banter. The awkward look he gave told her she may have said something wrong. "Something the matter?"

"Nothing, no. Sorry, no, nothing. I just. I didn't think they'd say anything, that's all." Danny said.

"Sorry?"

"Have they told everyone?"

"No, no, no. As far as I know, nobody has told anybody anything. What are you talking about?"

"Why did you just say the crying thing?"

"I was being funny."

"Why?"

"I just do that."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

Danny was sure that Clara didn't mean anything by it, but the conversation had got too awkward. "Anyway I, er, I've left some stuff in my class."

"Okay, see you."

"See you."

But as he turned to go, she got his attention again. "Er, are you going to the, er, leaving thing tonight for Cathy?"

"Um..."

* * *

Two minutes later, Danny sat slumped on his desk, regretting how he'd handled that situation and reciting what he should have said to himself. "Yeah. I wasn't going, but I am now, because you're going to be there, and suddenly it seems like the best idea ever." Instead of " _No, I'm not._ "

Clara had said alright and they'd wished each other good night, only for her to blurt out, " _Change your mind? 'cos I'm going. I could give you a lift._ "

"Actually, now that you mention it, seems like the best plan ever. Thank you." Danny said, wishing he hadn't gone with " _Nah, I've got some reading._ "

" _Maybe some other time then?_ " Clara had said.

"Thank you!" He shouted to the empty classroom and banged his head lightly on the desk, making a low _thump thump._

"Is that you, or the desk?" Said Clara.

He looked up to see her stood in the doorway. "How long have you been there?"

"Longer than you'd like." She grinned.

"Ok."

"Are you going to look that terrified when you take me out for a drink?"

Danny started, was it really that simple? "I-I promise I won't."

"Play your cards right and you might." Clara grinned.

Clara's gran had once told her that if he's too nervous to ask you out, it can only help if you ask him. Pleased by how that had gone, Clara made her way down to the supply room to drop some things off. The moment she turned on the light, she found a cardboard tray with two coffee cups an inch in front of her eyes. The hand holding it was attached to the Doctor. "And where have you been?"

"You sent me for coffee." He said.

"Three weeks ago. In Glasgow."

The Doctor frowned. "Three weeks? That's a long time."

Clara nodded. "Glasgow. That's dead in a ditch."

"I got distracted. It's not my fault."

"By what?"

"I can always find something. Come on."

Clara instinctively followed him into the TARDIS, which just fit in the back of the cupboard.

"Why are you smiling?" Said the Doctor.

"I wasn't. Was I?"

"I'd almost say you were in love, but to be honest..."

"What?"

"You're not a young woman any more."

"Yes I am!"

"You don't look it."

"I do look it!"

"Oh, that's right, keep your spirits up, Clara, Clara, Clara, Clara. Clara, Clara. Clara, Clara." He sat down on the steps, looking disturbed about something. Clara felt her irritation abate somewhat. "I need something from you. I need the truth."

She sat down next to him. "Ok. Right. What's... You're scared."

"I'm terrified."

"Of what?"

He sighed. "The answer to my next question, which must be honest and cold and considered, without kindness or restraint. Clara, be my pal and tell me, am I a good man?"

Clara thought for a moment. "I don't know."

"Neither do I." The Doctor got up and keyed in some coordinates on the navigation console. The engines powered up.

"Hold on, I've got plans!" Said Clara.

"I need you."

Clara took a breath. It was too late to explain anyway. She just hoped he wouldn't drop her in the middle of next week again. "Right. Where are we going?"

"Into darkness."

"So what's brought all this on?" Said Clara.

And so the Doctor explained...

* * *

" _DOCTOR." Said the Dalek._

" _How do you know my name?" He said shortly._

" _He doesn't." Said Morgan. "We promised him medical assistance."_

" _ARE YOU MY DOCTOR?"_

" _We found it floating in space." Said Journey._

" _We thought it was deactivated, so we tried to disassemble it." Said Morgan._

" _You didn't realise there was a creature inside?" Said the Doctor, not sure whether to be annoyed at the military's reliance on brute force when it was a Dalek they were dealing with._

" _Not till it started screaming." Said Journey._

" _HELP ME." Said the Dalek._

" _Why should I do that? Why would any living creature help you?"_

" _DALEKS WILL DIE."_

" _Die all you want. Not my problem." The Doctor turned to go. He may have been upset to see whole fleets of these creatures blown up once, but seeing them decimating Gallifrey a second time had reminded him why he fought them._

" _DALEKS MUST BE DESTROYED!"_

 _The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Daleks must be de... What did you just say?"_

" _ALL DALEKS MUST DIE. I WILL DESTROY THE DALEKS! DESTROY THE DALEKS! DESTROY THE DALEKS!"_


	2. The Heart Of The Dalek

**Chapter 2: The Heart Of The Dalek**

"A good Dalek?" Said Clara, as she sipped the now-cold coffee.

"No such thing." Said the Doctor.

Clara raised an eyebrow. "Bit inflexible isn't that? Not like you. One might almost say prejudiced."

The Doctor sighed, as the TARDIS came to a halt. "Do I pay you? I should give you a raise."

"You're not my boss. You're one of my hobbies. Come on."

They stepped back into the hold of the Aristotle, where the troops looked startled to see him. "That was quick." Said Journey.

"This is gun girl." The Doctor marched past her, pointing back. They followed behind. "She's got a gun and she's a girl. This is the sort of in charge one. Are you the same one as before?"

"Yes." Said Morgan.

"I think he's her uncle. But I may have made that up to pass the time while we were talking. This is Clara. She's not my assistant. She's, my... some other thing..."

"I'm his carer." Clara helpfully supplied.

"Yes. She cares so I don't have to." Without missing a stride, he hit the button for the Dalek's room.

"DOCTOR." The Dalek greeted him.

Looking at the machine, Clara felt a bit ill. The last time she'd seen one of those, she'd been on the inside. Like all her echoes, she could no longer recall the details. But every now and then, her dreams took her back to that life and reminded her what it had felt like being trapped inside one of those machines, cold and isolated and with their mental conditioning trying to destroy everything she was.

"WILL YOU HELP ME?" Said the Dalek.

"Will you help it?" Said Clara, hoping.

"A Dalek so damaged it's turned good." Said the Doctor. "Morality as a malfunction. How can I resist?"

"ALL DALEKS MUST DIE! ALL DALEKS MUST DIE!"

"So what do you do with a moral Dalek then?" Said Clara.

"We need to get into its head."  
Clara frowned. "Just how do you get into a Dalek's head?"

"That wasn't a metaphor."

* * *

The techs had explained the concept to her. Their explanation required knowledge of sciences unknown in Clara's time but she gathered that the device would increase the strong atomic force of everything in the glass tube, thus making every particle within them a bit smaller, but still serving its function.

Journey attached a couple of bracelets to her wrists "These are nanocontrollers. Once we're miniaturised, they take over the molecular compression. When the mission's over, hit the button. Are you sure you understand."

"Sure, why wouldn't I?"

"Because this is a dangerous mission and you look like a schoolteacher."

"I am a schoolteacher." She said indignantly. "I didn't catch your name by the way."

"Journey Blue."

"Blue?" Said Clara, who seemed amused.

"Blue yes. Problem?"

"Nothing. It's just, I just met a soldier called Pink."

"Lucky fella. Or girl."

"What makes you say that?"

"The way it made you smile."

Clara noticed that Journey sounded almost bitter about the whole idea. "What about you? What would make you smile."

"My brother." She said. "But he burned to death a couple of hours ago, so he's realy letting me down lately. Excuse me." She went over to Morgan, who was leading a couple of privates into the room, whom he introduced as Gretchen and Ross.

"What are they for?" Said the Doctor. "I don't need babysitters."

"We're not babysitters." Gretchen said.

"We're here to kill you if you turn out to be a Dalek spy." Snarled Ross.

"Well that's a relief. I hate babysitters." Said the Doctor.

Though the soldiers tried to hide it, this was the first mission they'd actually been given. Gretchen was calm and professional about the whole thing. She was just doing her job. Ross, on the other hand, was a lot more gung ho. He'd been itching for some action right from the start, and now it had finally come around.

"Okay, listen up." Said Journey. "Now, remember, do not hold your breath when the nanoscaler engages. You'll feel like you want to, but you must keep breathing normally during the miniaturisation process."

"Why?" Said Clara.

"Ever tried to microwave lasagne without taking the film off?" Said the Doctor.

"It explodes."

"Don't be lasagne."

The team all took their seats in the capsule and sealed the door behind them. In front of them, a robot arm lowered down an n shaped device, which hung over the capsule, shining blue lights inwards.

"Militarisation in three... two... miniaturisation now." Morgan said over the comunicator.

The blue light arm ran along the length of the capsule and back again. It repeated itself again and again. Faster and faster. Clara felt a massive rise in pressure, which made her feel like she was standing under a waterfall. Indeed her instincts did tell her to hold her breath, but she took the warnings to heart and concentrated on breathing in and out. She then looked out of the capsule and saw the bizarre image of everything getting rapidly bigger.

"Nanoscaling complete." Said Morgan. "Any problems?"

"Nobody popped." Said Journey.

A massive clang sounded on the glass as a seemingly enormous pair of tweezers grasped them, via an assistant picking the capsule up. As he did so, it tilted a millimetre one way, a difference large enough to tip everyone towards the end if they hadn't grabbed their seats. From the size of the tweezers, Clara estimated that she'd been shrunk down to about two millimetres tall.

"I can't believe it." She said.

The Doctor was looking with dread at the Dalek casing they were being carried towards. "No. Neither can I."

With a little thump, they cane to a halt. Journey slid the door back open, to reveal the blue light at the end of a Dalek eye stalk, but taking up the whole doorway.

The Doctor reached out and prodded it, whereupon it wobbled. The material was maleable and ductile enough for them to step into.

"We'll be following you all the way, Rescue One. Good luck all of you" Said Morgan.

Clara took her turn stepping through, after the others. The moment she did, she got a sensation as though she was suspended in relay thick jelly. But there was no sensation of movement. For a few moments, she thought she'd done something wrong and she'd be stuck here to drown in the covering of an eyestalk, but then she broke the surface of the far side as the material, whatever it was, self-repaired behind her.

"That was weird." She said, as they made their way through the cylindrical tunnel. All around the walls, little flashes of lights in many different colours were shooting past them, each going the same way.

"Visual impulses, travelling towards the brain." The Doctor explained.

"Beautiful." Said Clara. It was amazing that something so twisted could contain something so pretty.

"Welcome to the most dangerous place in the universe." Said the Doctor.

At the far end, they clambered out onto a ledge, which ran around the bottom of the dome section. Looking down was like looking down from the empire state building. They saw the grills below them. Below that, the skirts, sloping outwards, with the inner surfaces of the sense globes protruding through. All sorts of cables and systems ran along the walls.

Suspended in the centre, was a huge red sphere, which they knew to house the Kaled mutant itself hundreds of cables connected to the rest of the machine.

"It's amazing." Said Clara.

"It's huge." Said Ross.

Gretchen rolled her eyes. "No Ross, we're tiny."

"So how big is it now? Compared to us." Said Clara.

"See all those cables?" Said the Doctor.

"Yes."

"They're not all cables."

"So that's what invited us in." Said Journey.

The Doctor took a look round the ledge and found a large bank, containing pannels covered in lights. "Now, this is the cortex vault, a supplementary electronic brain. Memory banks, but more than that. This is what keeps the Dalek pure."

"How can a Dalek be pure?" Said Gretchen.

"Dalek mutants are born hating. This is what stokes the fire, extinguishes even the tiniest glimmer of kindness or compassion. Imagine the worst possible thing in the universe, then don't bother, because you're looking at it right now. This is evil refined as engineering."

"DOCTOR?" The Dalek's voice echoed throughout the machine.

"Oh hello Rusty." Said the Doctor. "I can call you Rusty, can't I? We need to come down there with you."

"What, with those tentacles and things?" Said Gretchen.

"How close do we have to get?" Said Journey.

"Well, you can't stick a thermometer in from here." He said. Unfortunately, while talking to the women, he'd failed to notice Ross loading up his harpoon gun. The man fired into the ledge, jamming a bolt deep into the metal. A light blue haze shot out from the point where the bolt had struck, rippling out through the metal.

"No. No, no, no, no! Stop, stop, stop, you idiot!" Shouted the Doctor, as Ross ignored him and shot another bolt in.

"We need a way down. That's the only way." Said Journey.

"It's not a simple machine, it's a Dalek! A perfect analogue of a living being. And you just hurt it! You know what comes next?"

"Oh God." Said Clara, who'd seen enough _Fantastic Voyage_ re toolings to know the answer.

"What is it?" Said Gretchen.

"Antibodies." Said Clara.

Sure enough, a little flock of floating spheres came buzzing towards them. They were designed to deal with corrosion, and various metal eating viruses that their victims had tried to weaponise against them. But also proved deadly against any tiny creatures unlucky enough to find their way inside.

The antibodies homed in on Ross and circled around him. A cover on the front irised open, revealing a scanner eye underneath.

"Stay back!" Said the Doctor. Any attempt to help him, of harm these creatures will identify us as a secondary threat.

"But the Dalek wants us here. Why's it attacking us?" Said Clara.

"Can you control your immune system?"

Like many who are itching for danger and excitement. Ross had realised the hard way that this wasn't a game and he actually may be about to die. The soldier had gone pale and shaking.

"Ross, stay calm. We're going to get you out of this." Said Journey, trying and failing to sound confident.

"You can get him out, can't you?" Said Clara.

"Here Ross, swallow that." The Doctor took a pill from his pocket.

"What is it?" Said Ross.

"Trust me."

Ross did as he'd asked. "Ok. Now what?"

Before anyone could give an answer, the antibodies ahead of him finished their scan. They buzzed angrily and rose up. The light intensified and Ross felt a very sudden surge of heat.

The others watched in horror and screamed his name as their friend turned to dust.

"What's it doing!" Shouted Clara, as one of the machines sucked up the dust, its blue light turning red. It promptly flew away.

"The hoovering." Said the Doctor, who was hurriedly adjusting his sonic screwdriver.

"What did you just give him?"

"A spare power cell. If I can track it, I can find out where they dump the bodies."

"I thought you said you could save him!" Shouted Journey.

"He was dead already. I was saving us." A lot of the antibodies were still floating around. Aware of something non Dalek in the area. "Got it! Follow me and run."

"Run!" Shouted Clara.

The group hurried along the ledge, with the antibodies following behind. The Doctor skidded to a halt by a hole in the floor, leading to a long smooth pipe. "They've dumped him in here. Organic refuse disposal. We need to get in there."

"Why?" Said Clara.

"Those antibodies won't give up until we're inside there. I'd rather go in alive than dead."

Behind them, Journey and Gretchen had formed a position and shot several of the antibodies. They went down easily enough but they were hard to hit and more and more were swarming in behind them.

"You don't even know where it leads!" Said Journey.

"Yes I do. Away from here. Now jump!"

Clara did so, followed by Journey.

"I can hold them off." Said Gretchen.

"No you can't. Now go." Said the Doctor. He soniced a nearby coolant tube and a jet of water shot out, which was more like soup at this scale. It temporarily broke up the antibodies advance as the Doctor ushered her into the hole, jumping in behind her.

The drop could not have been more than two feet, but at this scale it felt like a mile. Gravity bing a constant, they felt like they were accelerating faster than they ever had before. Fortunately, the air resistance was also much thicker at this scale and had trouble shifting aside in this pipe. This kept them travelling slowly enough.

Clara shot out the angled end of the pipe and found herself skimming off a pool of green gunge. It would have resembled something out of a 90s kids show if it wasn't for the hideous smell. To her surprise, she failed to break the surface, instead lying there for a few moments. Unfortunately, Journey and Gretchen were larger and weighed down by equipment and ended up breaking the surface tension, causing them all to sink. Luckily, the pool was shallow. With an excited "wheee!" The Doctor splashed in behind them.

"What is this stuff?" Groaned Clara.

"People. The Daleks need protean. Sometimes they harvest from their victims. This is a feeding tube."

"Is Ross here?" Said Journey.

"Top layer. If you'd like to say a few words..."  
Before he could say anything else, Journey grabbed him and shoved him against the wall. "A man has just died! Do not talk like that!"

"A lot of people have died. Everything in here is dead. Do you know why that's good?"

"Nothing here is good!"

"Nothing is alive in here, so logically this is the weakest spot in the Dalek's internal security. Nobody guards the dead. Mortuaries and larders, always the easiest to break out of. Oh, I've lived a life Tell Uncle Stupid that we're in. Ah ha! A bolt hole."

As he hurried over to sonic something on the wall, Journey and Gretchen gave Clara a _How do you put up with this?_ Sort of look.

"He'll get us out of here." She explained. "The trick is not killing him before he does."

A huge hexagonal panel on the wall rotated as the Doctor soniced it. Finaly, it fell to the floor with a massive bang. "See, bolt hole. Literally, a hole for a bolt.

Clara rolled her eyes. "Also, there's the puns."

"Come on. And watch it. Decontamination tubes are hot." Said the Doctor.

They hauled themselves out of the pool and clambered into the new tube. Indeed it was very hot in there, and a fine haze of water vapour hung in the air. Or it would have been fine on a macro scale. As it was, some of the suspended droplets of water were the size of ping pong balls. The steam did have one positive feature though, as it was thick enough to wash away all the gunk.

As she crawled through, Journey pulled out her radio. "Rescue 1 to mission control."

"This is blue. Mission control here." Said Morgan. "What's the situation?"

"The Dalek has some sort of internal defence mechanism. We've lost Ross."

"What kind? Doesn't it know you're in there to help it?"

"Yeah, well, it's a Dalek. So who knows? We're going to continue the mission."

Behind her, the Doctor was looking over his shoulder at Clara. "Are you alright back there? It's a bit narrow."

"Any remarks about my hips will not be appreciated." She said.

"Ach. Your hips are fine. Built like a man." Said the Doctor.

"Thanks." Clara frowned.

They reached the far end and dropped down into a room lined with walls of circuit boards. They could see little blue pulses as instructions travelled along the circuits.

The Doctor heard a strange crackling noise, which seemed to be coming from Gretchen. "What's that noise? Are you wearing a Geiger counter?"

"Standard battle equipment." She said. "That's just low level."

"Stronger down here. Gimme." He grabbed it off her.

"How's he working out?" Said Morgan.

Journey thought for a moment. "It's difficult to say. He's..."

"Got it!" The Doctor interrupted. "I know what's wrong with Rusty."

"It that good?" Said Clara.

"You know how I said that the inside of a Dalek is the most dangerous place in the universe? Well, I was wrong. It's much more dangerous than that."

Journey got back on her radio. "Colonel. We have radiation indicators red lining here. Could be that the Dalek was more battle damaged than we thought."

"Roger that."

The Doctor followed the Geiger counter down through the circuit boards and into a collection of tanks and pipes none of them could identify. "Old Rusty here is suffering a trionic radiation leak. It's poisoning the Dalek and us. Just as well we're here."

"Shouldn't we get out while we can?" Said Journey, who'd been against this plan from the start. Why should we trust a Dalek? Why would it change?"

"Good question." Said the Doctor. "Rusty, what changed you?"

"I SAW BEUTY." Said Rusty.

"You saw what?"

"IN THE DARKNESS AND THE COLD. I SAW WORLDS BURNING."

"That's not beauty. That's destruction." Journey scowled.

"I SAW... MORE."

"What did you see?" Said the Doctor.

"I SAW THE BIRTH OF A STAR."

"Stars are born every day. You've seen a million stars born. So what?"

"DALEKS HAVE DESTROYED A MILLION STARS."

"Oh millions and millions. Trust me, I keep count. The Doctor rolled his eyes."

"AND YT NEW STARS ARE BORN."

"Every time."

"RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."

"Resistance to what?"

"LIFE. LIFE ALWAYS PREVAILS. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!"

"So you saw a star being born, and you learned something. Oh, Dalek, do not be lying to me. Come on."

They continued on to the very heart of the Dalek, as the Geiger counters approached 200 rads. Finally, they reached the very centre, where the disturbance was originating from. Above them, they had a much better view of Rusty's housing, with the thousands of cables and tubes strung out of it and the tentacles stretched out to operate the closer controls, namely the sucker arm and the gun.

"It's incredible." Said Clara.

The Doctor looked at the main power cell before him, with a massive glowing crack running through it.

"Power's off the scale." Said Journey. "I think its gonna blow."

"Good." Said the Doctor.

"How is that good?" Journey was rapidly getting fed up with his constant unflappability.

"I like a bit of pressure. It helps me work. Rusty, I've found the problem. There was a breach in your power cell. I'm patching it up now." He set the sonic screwdriver to resonate the material and held it up to the crack. As he'd hoped, the unstable molecules melted together, starting from the top, and pulling the rest of the divide into one piece. "There. Good as new."

"Is that it?" Said Clara.

"I like a bit of anticlimax now and again. Good for my hearts. Rusty, how do you feel?" But Rusty was silent. That wasn't a good sign. "Rusty? Rusty? Rusty?"

"THE MALFUNCTION IS CORRECTED."

"What's happening?" Said Journey.

"I'm not sure."

All around them, previously idling machinery suddenly whirred into life. "I think its waking up." Said Journey.

The Doctor's heartbeats were rapidly increasing. "Rusty, talk to me. What's happening?"

"THE MALFUNCTION IS CORRECTED. ALL SYSTEMS ARE FUNCTIONING! WEAPONS CHARGED!"

"No, no, no no no, no!"

"EXTERMINATE!" Rusty roared will all the fury of a full strength, and battle hungry Dalek.

* * *

 **Author's notes: I think this is the single longest chapter I've ever uploaded.**

 **I like to add scientific observations to these novelizations, so I've added a few bits about the effects of down scaling.**


	3. Seek Locate Exterminate

**Chapter 3: Seek, Locate, Extermiante.**

Two techs were in Rusty's cell with him, monitoring the readouts on the various scanners they'd installed. As the first saw the gun swinging her way, her only thought was frustration. She was sure she'd been close to a breakthrough.

Her friend saw her light up negative. For a few split seconds, he thought up some choice words to say about her insistence on not removing the gun. She'd believed it would help Rusty to trust them, and they might learn something about their fire power. Look where it had got her. But it was only for a brief moment before the Dalek shot him too.

Behind them, Morgan leapt out the lab door, slamming it behind him and locking it. But that wouldn't hold it for long. Around him, he heard the sound of footsteps as nearby soldiers heard the commotion and came running.

* * *

The Dalek's internal systems contained inertia dampers to prevent and sudden accelerations killing the creature inside. Unfortunately, this took a few moments longer to activate than it took Rusty to begin his advance. The team felt the floor shift as though they were standing on a rocket car that had just set off. Fortunately, each of them was able to skid along the floor without hitting anything.

Journey got on the radio. "Colonel. What's happening out there?"

* * *

As Rusty burst out of the lab, the soldiers stood startled for a few moments, before sporadically opening fire. "EXTERMINATE!" Shouted Rusty, as it shot the nearest one. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" And two more fell.

"Get out of here!" Shouted Morgan. "Fall back to a better position!"  
Rusty watched them leave, but decided against following. Instead, he located a comunications panel nearby and interfaced with it. "CALLING DALEK FLEET. COMUNICATIONS OPEN."

* * *

On the nearest Dalek ship, Rusty's voice came through. "THE REBEL SHIP HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED." Said the Dalek leader.

"PREPARE 14 DALEKS!" Said a subordinate.

* * *

Journey wasn't getting much response from her radio. Just a lot of shouting and zapping.

"Doctor, what happened?" Said Clara.

"Do you see?" He said.

"See what?"

"Daleks don't turn good." He said matter-of-factly. "There was no miracle. Just radiation altering its brain chemistry."

"So let me get this straight." Said Journey. "We had a good Dalek and we made it bad again!"

"There never was a good Dalek. We had a broken Dalek."

"You were supposed to be helping us!" Journey screamed at him.

"I gave it a shot." He shrugged, with all the care of a repairman explaining why he couldn't fix a phone that the owner had snapped in half. "I was a Dalek. What did you expect?"

Journey groaned in frustration. "Ok. New objective! We are taking this Dalek down!"

The Doctor looked at Clara, who was giving him the strangest of looks back. "What's that for?"

"It's the look I get when I'm about to slap you!" And she did. Hard. "Are we going to die in here? I mean, there's a little bit of you that's pleased. The Daleks are evil after all. Everything makes sense. The Doctor is right." Had he forgotten who he was talking to? Though she'd never been fully Dalek, she'd seen more of their minds than any of them.

"Daleks are irredeemably evil. That's what we learned today!" The Doctor shouted.

"No. That is not what we learned today."

Clara looked at Journey and Gretchen, who were sticking charges to anything that looked important. "I'm going to scan the structure for other weaknesses." Journey was saying.

"You two. One question." Said Clara.

"No time!"

"Why did we come here today? What was the point? You. You thought there was a good Dalek. What difference would one good Dalek make?"

"All the difference in the world. But that's impossible." Said the Doctor.

"Is that it? Is that what we've learned today? Is that all we've learned?"

* * *

Rusty renewed his advance. The Daleks had recently upgraded their armour and the troops carried were relatively useless. They stood little chance of taking out Rusty unless they could get organised. Instead, they sealed a blast door between them and it, which would at least buy them some time.

Seeing that more Daleks were on their way, Morgan hit a button on the communicator. "Wasp fighters to action stations. Wasp fighters to action stations."

"The security systems have been hacked!" Responded a voice. "We don't have access to the wasps."

"God help us." He got on the radio. "Journey. You still there? That thing's gone berserk. It set the Daleks on us. And it's locked out our defenses. You're our only hope. I need you to destroy that thing... Whatever it takes."

Journey took a breath. "Understood uncle."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

* * *

Clara watched as the gears turned beneath the Doctor's face. Finally, that look of excitement crept into his eyes that always let her know he knew he was going to win. "Clara Oswald, do I really not pay you? I should."

"You couldn't afford me." She grinned.

The Doctor spotted Journey priming the detonator. "Whoa, whoa! Whatever you're about to do, don't! We can do better."

"Are you out of your mind!" She screamed.

"No. I'm inside a Dalek. The one place I've never been before. We'll never have this chance again."

"I have my orders."

"A soldier takes orders. A Dalek is a better soldier than you'll ever be. You can't win this way."

Journey put her finger on the button. Rusty had been their best hope of turning a tide in this war. Not just living one day to the next. Now she had the job of bringing that hope to an end, and herself with it. She reminded herself that there was nothing to hope for. That it was optimism that had got her into the situation in the first place. That all signs pointed to the face that people were going to die as long as they didn't do this. She put down the detonator and thumped a wall in frustration. "So what do we do?"

"Something better."

* * *

The assault force was in formation in the hanger bay as they closed in on the rebel ship. Their leader glided onto the raised platform to a address them. "PREPARE TO BOARD THE REBEL SHIP. WE WILL FIND OUR COMRADE DALEK. SPARE NO HUMANS. EXTERMINATE THEM ALL."

"EXTERMINATE!" Roared the crowd. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

* * *

As the area around the power cell heated up rapidly, the group had been forced to abandon the central section and head out into the main chamber again. Clara tried not to think about the three foot drop stretched out below her, like a yawning chasm.

The Doctor was busy explaining. "The Dalek isn't just some angry blob in a Dalekanium case. If it was, the radiation would have turned it into a raving lunatic."

"It is a raving lunatic. It's a Dalek!" Snapped Journey, as they clambered onto a ledge.

"But for a moment, it wasn't. The radiation allowed it to expand its consciousness, to consider things beyond its natural terms of reference. It became good. That means a good Dalek is possible. That's what we learned today. Am I right, teach?"

"Top of the class!" She grinned.

"And now it's back the way it was." Said Journey.

"Yes. But what it saw. What it felt. It's still there."

Journey heard a low growl echo through the casing, which she could still recognise as a scream. "Yeah, I'm not really seeing that."

"Not here. There." He pointed up to the cortex vault.

"The evil engineering?" Said Clara.

"Every memory recorded. Some suppressed, but all still intact. We need to show the Dalek that star being born again. Recreate that moment. You need to get up there, find that moment and reawaken it."

"Me?" Clara said, startled.

"Yes you. Good idea."

"How?"

"Haven't the foggiest. Do a clever thing. And then once you've done it, the Dalek will be suggestible to new ideas. It will be open again. And I will show it something that will change its mind forever."

Journey was about to ask him what. But given the way this conversation was going, she knew what the answer would be. Part of her was regretting leaving her explosives behind.

* * *

Morgan had hurried as many people as he could down to the main hanger, where they took up positions behind crates. All of them were trembling as they heard a series of clunks from the far side of the main door. But they were all willing to fight to the death. Being surrounded by ruthless killing machines simplified that problem.

Finally, a blast came, which knocked the main doors off their hinges and set fire to a couple of the Dalek's manipulator arms. Not that they cared.

"PRESSURE EQUALISED. BOARDING CORPS BEGIN ATTACK.

"SEEK LOCATE DESTROY! SURRENDER IS NOT ACCEPTED."

"Open fire!" Roared Morgan. His troops unleashed everything they had on the Daleks. But everything they had was easily absorbed by their casings and they advanced onwards, undaunted.

* * *

Journey looked up at the casing, towering over her. "This is crazy. There's no way we can make it in time."

"Yes there is." Gretchen pulled out her grappling gun.

"No!" Cried Journey. "You'll bring the antibodies down on you."

Gretchen shrugged to show she'd assumed so. She turned to Clara. "Tell me the truth. Is he mad, or is he right? I've come this far. Probably going to die anyway. Wouldn't mind something to do for the rest of my life. Is he mad, or is he right?"

"Truth be told? Most days he's both."

Not feeling much better, she turned to the Doctor. "One question: Is it worth it?"

"If I can turn one Dalek, I can turn them all. I can save the future." He said.

She smiled. "Gretchen Allison Carlisle. Do something good and name it after me."

"I'll do something amazing."

"You'd better." She took aim, even as Journey made one last desperate attempt to stop her. But she fired two bolts up anyway, before preping her gun. "You'd all better go."

The Doctor hurried down a passageway between two metal ribs. Journey attached a pulley to the rop and took hold of it, before guiding Clara where to hold. "Just don't look down." As they heard the low whistle of the antibodies, she pressed a button and the two of them shot upwards.

Left alone, Gretchen's only real thought was that she someone could be there to hold her hand. Preferably someone parental. But no time to worry about that. She may as well go down fighting so she opened fire, taking out about a dossen of those things before they closed in on her.

She felt an intense heat as the nearest on vaporised her and screamed madly, screwing up her eyes. But then suddenly the pain vanished, although it was several seconds before she could stop screaming. She opened her eyes and found herself sitting at a garden table, on a patio overlooking an idilic garden.

A curly haired woman in Edwardian dress was sat opposite her. "Hello. I'm Missy. Welcome to heaven. Would you like some tea? Little splosh? Lovely."

* * *

Morgan and his troops were well on the way to joining her. They jumped up to fire for only brief seconds, as it only took a Dalek 1.5 rels to take aim accurately. They also moved position between shots so the Daleks couldn't mark them, but it all came to nought when their weapons ere useless against Dalek armour. The Daleks were bearing down on them hard. Once they reached the far wall, there'd be no cover to hide behind.

"Concentrate your fire!" Morgan shouted. "Aim for the one on the left with the burning plunger!"

The troops did so. Unable to cope with the sudden weight of fire, the Dalek was blasted apart. Sadly, in the time it had taken them to do that, the remaining Daleks had shot three of the rebels.

The following Dalek casually shoved it's way through the wreckage. "ADVANCE. SEEK. LOCATE. EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"


	4. Eye To Eye

**Chapter 4: Eye To Eye**

The Doctor clambered over the bundle of cables and nerve fibres that extended out of the section that housed the Kaled mutant. Here, Rusty itself was lying in a squidgy mass, extending its tentacles out through larger holes to operate the controls. Its single eye was following readouts on an array of holographic screens.

The Doctor stepped in front of the screens. "Well, here we are Rusty. Eye to eye."

Rusty considered retracting a tentacle to swat him but decided to finnish the job first. "YOU CANNOT SAV THE HUMANS. I WILL JOIN THE OTHER DALEKS IN THE FINAL ATTACK. ALL WILL BE EXTERMINATED."

* * *

Two feet above them, Clara and Journey had found the cortex vault. "Ok. So what do we do?" Said Journey.

Clara looked at the display of lights on the wall before her. "Something clever, think, think think, er... some of the lights are out." Then it snapped in her mind. "Some of the lights are out!"

"Yeah, we got a damaged Dalek. So what?"

"But this section isn't damaged." She waved around at the wall. Not one panel was bent out of shape. "The Doctor said this was a memory bank and some of the memories are suppressed. What if one of the suppressed memories is the Dalek seeing the star."

"Seriously?" Cried Journey.

"Yeah, either that or the bulbs need changing."

"It could be the bulbs."

"Got a better idea?"

Journey had a mental image of herself grabbing a big hammer and re structuring Rusty's memory in the most fundamental way possible. "No. I wish I did."

"Yeah, me too. Ah ha!" Clara found a seam round the edge of one of the darkest panels and pulled it loose, revealing a passageway, just wide enough to crawl through. "Watch for antibodies. Let's see if there's an off switch."

* * *

The Doctor busied himself stripping of some wire insulation. "I've saved your life Rusty. Now I'm going to go one better. Save your soul."

"DALEKS DO NOT HAVE SOULS."

"But what if they did?" The Doctor couldn't resist the slight jab. "What then?"

* * *

Clara wriggled her way down the passageway. Behind her, she heard Journey call "If there's a pack of spare bulbs in there. Break it to me gently." She found the cables too thick to grip on so she pushed off the walls instead, but she needed some speed. Seeing a copper nub ahead of her, she grabbed it for some purchase, only to envelopd in a blue flash as some energy conducted through her.

* * *

The new signals shot out from where she was, down the links and into Rusty's housing. New images came up on the screens. Images of Daleks exterminating the peace loving people of the Elpi System.

"Your memories." Said the Doctor. "I'm about to give some back to you."

* * *

"Are you alright Clara?" Said Journey.

"Yeah. Some sort of energy discharge." Said Clara, as she wondered why she felt no different. Whatever it was that had conducted through her had done so without harming her.

"You got some of the lights back on." Said Journey.

"Of course. Like a brain. And a brain's a collection of neural pathways. That's what I'm doing. Linking them up. Turning the memories back on!" Seeing two more such nubs further down, she crawled faster, seized with new purpose.

* * *

The rebels were pressed against the back of the hold by now, barely peeking out from cover. The Daleks had taken to shooting out gas lines and light panels to disorientate them further. Morgan decided to use that to their advantage. "Everyone fall back!"

They fled, using the smoke as cover. Dalek energy weapons zipping past their ears. There was no particular structure to the retreat, the officers just led whoever was nearest to the nearest door and took up position.

Morgan himself led twelve soldiers through the main door and hit a button that activated the security door. They fled down the corridor and activated a second door, just as they heard a clang of metal on metal. Behind them, five Daleks had gone to deal with them, the lead of which had got itself jammed under the door. The rest glided past. Now clear of the smoke, they took out two more of the defenders before the second door slammed shut before them.

* * *

Journey heard an unmistakable buzzing rapidly getting closer. "Hurry up in there! We're about to get some company!" As the first antibody rounded the corner, she shot it to pieces, only for three more to follow it.

Clara had reached the second terminal. "Show me a star Rusty." She grabbed it and felt annother rush of energy flying through her.

* * *

Once more, new memories came to the screens. This time, it showed a Dalek fleet in the process of annihilating the fourth Terran fleet outside the Lambert Nebula.

The Doctor frowned. That was still the wrong one. But at least Clara was making progress. "Oh, look. It's your memories again. It's like somebody's mucking about up there. Memories, all those memories. Do you remember the star you saw being born?"

* * *

"Hurry up Clara! Hurry up!" Journey was firing more fiercely than ever, but she was beginning to feel like she was trying to catch every flake in a snowfall.

"Just one more." Clara hauled herself forward and grabbed the last terminal.

The moment she did, every light on the wall came on and the antibodies retreated.

"You did it. It's rebooting." Said Journey.

* * *

"I... I REMEMBER." Said Rusty.

"You remember the star Rusty."

"NO..."

"You saw a star being born. The endless rebirth of the universe. You saw the truth."

"TRUTH? WHAT IS THE TRUTH?" Rusty spun its casing round.

As a means of answering, the Doctor held up the ends of two nerve cables he'd stripped. "I've opened your mind Rusty. Now I'm coming in." He grabbed hold of the end of each. Both of them felt a moment of pain, followed by a sudden feeling of tranquility. Then the Doctor's voice spoke in Rusty's head. "I'm part of you. My mind is in your mind."

There was little point in retreating further. The Daleks were worming their way throughout the ship. Try to run and they'd only collide with a group of rebels fleeing the other way.

The door was beginning to glow. Morgan cocked his gun dramticaly. "That door's not going to hold. But I'm dammed if I'm making it easy for them."

The Doctor was using this mind link to flood Rusty's memories with his own.

Rusty saw the great cobalt pyramid, the mountains of Gallifrey, every one of the 700 wonders of the universe. "I see your memories, Doctor, and I see... beauty."

"Isn't the universe beautiful? Hold on to that." The Doctor smiled.

"I see... endless perfection."

"Make it a part of you. Remember how you feel right now. Put it inside you and live by it."

"I see into your soul Doctor and I see... hatred."

"Hatred?"

Images came of the Daleks exterminating one world after another. Of a man determined to wipe their scum from the cosmos, by any means necessary. And it felt good. "Hatred of the Daleks is good."

This wasn't in the Doctor's plan at all. "No, no, no. You must see more than that, there must be more than that."

"Death to the Daleks! Death to the Daleks! Death to the Daleks!"

"No, there must be more than that. There must be more than that. Please!"

"Daleks are evil! Daleks must be exterminated! Daleks are evil!"

* * *

Morgan watched as a chunk in the centre of the door peeled away and collapsed. Behind it, one of the Daleks was lining up to batter its way through.

"God help us all." He said.

But seconds before the Dalek reached the door, it was abruptly blasted into pieces. Rusty was gliding up behind them, having made up its mind that it hated Daleks above all else.

The three remaining Daleks took a few seconds to piece together what was happening. In that time, Rusty had taken out another of them. The others spun round to deal with it. Rusty wouldn't have time to take out both. However, as Rusty shot the first, the second realised that it had forgotten about the rebels, who came charging forward, pouring shot into it until it too went up in smoke.

Rusty then turned to the Dalek that was holding up the door. It was desperately trying to bring its gun round, but the pressure prevented it from doing so. Rusty lazily blasted it, allowing the door to come down and cutting off any reinforcements the Daleks might send.

"DALEKS ARE EXTERMINATED!" Said Rusty.

"Of course." The Doctor sighed. "That's what you do, isn't it."

Rusty glided over to the nearest console and unlocked all the defence systems. It also transmitted a retreat signal to the other Daleks, to make them think the ship had activated the self destruct.

* * *

A few minutes later, the Doctor, Journey and Clara sat on top of the eyestalk and pulled off their wrist straps to return to normal size. Journey looked happy to be alive and hugged her uncle, briefly. The Doctor looked disappointed. Clara looked at Rusty almost affectionately. "So what are you doing now then?"

"I MUST GO WITH THEM."

"Of course you must." The Doctor muttered. "You've got work to finish."

Rusty turned to look at the timelord. "VICTORY IS YOURS. BUT IT DOES NOT PLEASE YOU?"

"You looked inside me and saw hatred. That's not victory. Victory would have been a good Dalek." A good Dalek could have spread its ideas throughout the Dalek mind, completely rejuvenated the species. The best he could hope was that this one could disrupt their plans for a while. Adding a little self loathing to their hive mind was likely to achieve nothing.

"I AM NOT A GOOD DALEK. _YOU_ ARE A GOOD DALEK."

The Doctor flinched slightly at that remark, as Rusty turned to leave. As the Dalek reached the end of the corridor, it stopped and turned to regard them for a few moments. It occurred to the Doctor that this was the closest he'd ever got to a goodbye wave from a Dalek.

"'till next time." He said, and went through a door, away from the others. Rusty went round the corner, out of sight.

"Is he leaving? Isn't he going to say goodbye?" Said Journey.

"I think that was it." Said Clara. "Yeah, that was it. Got to run." She hurried after the Doctor.

Journey had a thought and kissed Morgan on the cheek. "I'm sorry." She hurried after them.

The Doctor and Clara were walking back to the TARDIS in silence when she caught them. "Doctor. Take me with you." Until she met him, she'd never believed that anything she did could make a difference. Somehow, he'd shown that it could. She wanted to see more.

The Doctor thought for a moment and smiled. "I think you're probably nice. Underneath it all, I think you're kind and you're definitely brave. I just wish you hadn't been a soldier."

He stepped into the TARDIS. Clara and Journey exchanged sheepish smiles before she followed him in.

* * *

An hour later, Clara hurried into the console room, having had a wash and a change of clothes. "How do I look?"

The Doctor was stood at the console, looking glum. "Short and roundish, but with a good personality."

"I meant my clothes. I just changed."

"Well, good for you to make the effort." With a thump, the TARDIS came to a halt. "You're back in your cupboard, about 30 seconds after you left."

"When will I see you again?"

"Oh, soon I expect. Or later. One of those."

Clara had been thinking over something to say all the time she was getting changed. "I don't know."

"What?"  
"You asked me if you're a good man and the answer is, I don't know. But I think you try to be and I think that's probably the point."

The Doctor smiled. "I think you'll be an amazing teacher."

"I think I'd better be." She left and walked out of the cupboard, to find Danny waiting outside. "Danny, hi!" She said, trying hard not to look like she'd just been crawling around inside a Dalek and had, in fact, seen him minutes before.

"Did you change your clothes?" Said Danny.

"Yes... well noticed. You pass the test."

Danny smiled awkwardly. "Are you realy going for a drink with me?"

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"I just thought..."

"Thought what?"

"You might have a rule against soldiers."

"No. Not at all." She said. "Not me."

 **Next Time: Army Of Ghosts/Doomsday**


End file.
